Papikian Receives Humboldt Fellowship
Mihran Papikian, assistant professor of mathematics, has been awarded a Humboldt Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, a nonprofit foundation established by the Federal Republic of Germany that promotes international research cooperation. Recipients receive a monetary grant and support for research at a German university of their choice for one year. The fellowship is awarded to highly qualified scholars, not living in Germany, in a worldwide competition. Papikian has chosen to continue his research at the University of Saarlands during 2008 and 2009. In addition to research funding, the fellowship includes a cultural tour of Germany, conference and travel allowances, and a reception given by the president of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Papikian specializes in algebraic number theory, an area of pure mathematics that, very broadly, involves the search for solutions of polynomial equations with integer coefficients using algebraic and geometric techniques. Papikian is interested particularly in modular varieties, which are spaces classifying certain algebraic objects. These spaces link three different areas of mathematics: algebraic geometry, representation theory, and number theory.
Modular varieties play a central role in modern mathematics and currently are being studied actively. For example, they were used by Andrew Wiles in his solution of a 350-year-old problem known as Fermat's Last Theorem. Papikian studies geometric properties of modular varieties and the applications of this theory, such as the construction of codes with good properties.
Papikian was honored with the Emil Artin Junior Prize in 2005. In 2003, he was awarded one of five annually offered European Postdoctoral Institute Fellowships, which he used to visit several European research institutes. Papikian also was named a Clay Mathematics Institute Liftoff Mathematician in 2003. He has authored 12 scientific papers in international, peer-reviewed journals and has delivered numerous invited presentations.
Prior to joining Penn State in August 2007, Papikian was a Szegö Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University. He earned a Ph.D. degree in mathematics at the University of Michigan in 2003 and a bachelor's degree, awarded with highest honors, in mathematics at Yerevan State University in the Republic of Armenia in 1997.